Life is a lot easier when you play badly and then all of a sudden you get in contention and win one. No one gets on your back. When you finish runner-up seven times, everyone is asking, 'Why aren't you winning?' It's much more fun when you jump into a win out of the blue. It's a much tougher game when you play consistently well.

Barclays Singapore Open

Barclays Singapore Open - Review
It was a very disappointing week in Singapore. I was looking forward to playing the Barclays Singapore Open, as I was happy with my play the previous week in Shanghai. Having played there for the last two years and done well on the course two years ago I was really feeling good about the week. To miss the cut was extremely annoying as this was my last tournament before the final event of the Race to Dubai and I was looking to move myself up the rankings.

There were a couple of things that contributed to me missing the cut - firstly I injured my neck on Monday doing some exercises in the gym and also the fact that the tournament was played over two courses. I really needed to rest my neck for a few days to get it right for Thursday but the fact that there was a new course (the Tanjong) involved meant that I had to play it, as I hadn’t seen it before. Playing certainly didn’t help my neck and it also threw my coordination out for the week. That said it wasn’t the only reason that I missed the cut as I hit a couple of bad shots during the two rounds that ultimately cost me playing over the weekend.

My first round on the Tanjong course really put me on the back foot in terms of making the cut and this is the one where you were expecting to make your score on as it was quite short and has plenty of birdie chances. Having being delayed for four hours before I started I actually got off to a great start, making birdie on the first and then making four more by the tenth. I was five under par for the round standing on the twelfth tee box, a reachable par five. However, I pulled my tee shot out of bounds and ended up taking double bogey which stopped me in my tracks. I then ended up dropping another shot on the 16th from a three putt and in the end shot two under par, which was a very disappointing score on this course.

My second round (on the Serapong course) was something similar to my first - I birdied the first again and then made two more birdies in the next four holes. I was five under par for the tournament playing the seventh hole and on the fringes of being in the tournament. I was hitting a little eight iron for my third shot - I wasn’t even taking on the pin but I never got into the shot and ended up pushing it right into water taking another double bogey. Like my double bogey on Thursday it stopped me in my tracks; I parred everything till the 13th where I made a bogey. I got as far as the 16th green before the hooter was sounded to halt play for darkness, at which point I was in the greenside bunker in two and two under par. It meant that I had to play my last two and half holes in one under par to make the cut. When I came back out on Saturday morning I thinned my bunker shot and took bogey on 16 and then parred my last two holes to finish on one under.

I was really annoyed to have missed the cut, especially the way I did. It leaves me one more tournament in Europe this season to try and get a win. This week I am having a family holiday in Dubai, but the clubs won’t be seeing any action until the following week in Dubai.

Barclays Singapore Open
Padraig misses the cut in Singapore after a disappointing second round of 72. Yet again, he got off to a great start with three birdies in his first five holes but again repeated a double bogie on the par five 7th hole. This left him struggling on the cut line as the fading light left him to return Saturday to complete his final three holes. He failed to record the required birdie needed to make the cut at three under par.

Opening round of two under par 69 could have been so much better for Padraig. Having raced to five under par after ten holes, the highlight being an eagle three on the par five 6th hole, he hit out of bounds at the par five 12th and dropped a further shot on his 16th hole to finish just inside the cut mark.

Padraig continues his season ending countdown in Singapore as he contests this weeks Barclays Singapore Open. It is being played over two courses, the Serapong and Tanjong. Padraig tees off in the opening round at 9.45am local time with Shiqeki Maruyama and Lian-wei Zhang.

Barclays Singapore Open - Preview
This week I am playing in the Barclays Singapore Open for the third time - last year I finished well down the field and the year before I finished in second place. The two previous years the tournament was played on the Sentosa Serapong course only, whereas this year it is being played over the two courses at Sentosa, which includes the Tanjong course. It always tricky when you are playing a tournament over two courses as conditions can vary from day to day and from course to course. However this week the courses are side-by-side and so it should negate the chance of varying conditions.
I arrived here on Monday evening from China. I played the Tanjong course on Tuesday (as I played the pro-am on the Serapong course on Wednesday) and was pleasantly surprised how good the course was. It is quite short but it is also tight so it means that there aren’t many driver holes on it and should prove to be a decent test.

Before I left China on Monday I was in the gym and I tweaked my neck doing an exercise, one I know I shouldn’t really do. It has meant that my swing has been restricted during my practice rounds; in fact, I wouldn’t have played on Tuesday if I had already seen the course. However, by the end of the pro-am it was definitely loosening up but it would have been much better had I be able to rest it.

It is hard to say how my game is after my couple of practice rounds given my neck issue. I was very happy with how I hit the ball last week so I have to believe that it will still be there when I tee it up on Thursday. I was a bit anxious during the pro-am as I felt that my neck had put my swing out a little, so I did a bit of practice afterwards to try and get my rhythm back.
This is my third time here - it’s a tournament that I really enjoy and look forward to every year. The Serapong course is one of the best courses of the season and a really good test of golf. This is my last event before the final tournament of the year on the European Tour schedule, the Dubai World Championhip. I am currently lying in 18th position in the Race to Dubai standings and this is my last chance to get up the rankings before Dubai, as I am not playing next week.

I have come here happy with my game and looking to get my first win of the year on the European Tour. My neck injury has hampered my preparation but it hasn’t knocked me out completely. Dale Richardson is here this week and he has been doing some very good work on it and I am confident that it will be fine on Thursday morning.